I'm going to get into evolutionary astrology but I only have a passing knowledge of sun-sign astrology and a small amount of knowledge of EA gained vicariously through knowing someone who knows it. (If all that makes sense.)My question being, are there basics I should learn before getting into EA or should I just jump right in? If there are basics, are there any suggestions for a good starting point?

while someone else will surely have a more aged perspective than myself, I'll share with you a great book that is from an evolutionary perspective and is specifically about fundamentals: "astrology and the evolution of consciousness" by maurice fernandez. also "sacred marriage astrology" by adam gainsburg. As far as i am aware, both authors seem to be in alignment with ea principals.

also, personal story- when i first started learning astrology, it was actually via the pluto book. that book, while it didn't address fundamentals of interpretation etc, it gave me a strong philosophical bottom line.

I am on a Mac, and I use the Io software, available from Time Cycles Research. Io Edition is the program for chart computation: birth charts, lunar and solar return charts, progressed charts, composite and synastry charts. Io Sprite, which is purchased separately, computes ingresses, planetary returns, aspects to natal placements, and other phenomena of the transiting planets as they interact within a birthchart. They offer wonderful service and technical support, as well. The graphics are beautiful...I have been satisfied with their products since 1999.

Hi Dughlas, I would also recommend both Pluto books by Wolf. Within them is not only the core foundation for Evolutionary Astrology, but also the most in depth and detailed explanation of the core archetypes in astrology: signs, houses, planets, aspects, synastry and composite charts, and so on. One of the things Wolf used to say is that it was easier for him to teach astrology, EA, to beginners BECAUSE THEN HAVE SO MUCH LESS TO UNLEARN. And what he meant is that a lot of the material in so many astrology books is just worthless. Also, on the main website here there are a variety of materials from Wolf. Two that you may be interested in right away is his DVD's on Pluto: The Evolutionary Journey Of The Soul, and We Meet Again, Eh? which is all about synastry and composite charts between folks that are in relationship.

Thank you Leslie and Rad (and Ari again)for taking the time to help. I'll definitely save up some bio-survival tickets for that Astro software and I have access to both of JWG's Pluto books so I think I have a great runway to take off from. I'm sure it won't be long before I have plenty of questions.

I wanted to also add, i am a MAC person as leslie is and I too have the IO edition for my mac. I know you can run solar fire on a mac with a virtual pc hardrive, Greg who is on the board and a teriffic tech guy could give you more advice im sure. But I use the lo edition and I love it, its really easy to use, and I love the guys who run it, you can always call them to get tech advice. The things I don't like about it are they don't have the planetary nodes of all the planets and they dont have tons of asteroids in their data base, I go to other programs for that information..... But the people at time cycles say the are adding all this to the next version of the program...

Good luck and enjoy your learning, what a beautiful process you are about to delve into!!

Thank you too! I was looking at that software and it looks very good. It seems to outshine the others I've found like Kairon, and l'Astorlogique, so I'll probably head that direction. (Luckily...having to save the money forces me to comparison shop, haha.)

Maybe the next question for me to put out there, since I've found several Mac astrology programs is...

What MUST an astrology program do in order to handle what I'm going to ask of it as I get into EA?

I just want to let you know that, since I do use the Io software, I purchased a book that Wolf recommended years ago (for the planetary nodes ONLY -- he warned, and rightfully so, that the rest of the book is...junk, we'll say!). It's called "The Node Book," by Zipporah Pottenger Dobyns. I bought it online, used, for a very few dollars, if I remember. I use this since Io doesn't have the planetary nodes in its programs, as Pam has noted. And I completely skip the text, as advised.

Thanks some more for helping. After some comparison shopping I'm going to stick with your advice and scrape up the bread for IO. I'll definitely grab the book you mention as well. I have a dear friend who is an astrologer, maybe I'll see if she has it. I have a great list of starting stuff I need to undertake now.

just to say yes astro.com has lots for free as I have used that program for quite a long to too, but there is storage issues with astro.com and you can not bring up the planetary nodes of all the planets for that I use http://www.megadelfi.com/~jonathan/ as i talked about in an entry from wendy..... I find the IO edition easier than astro, it moves quicker and has better storage, but if you dont have the cash then use the free programs. I only bought a program about 2 years ago, way after I had started all the homework and studies...... hope to be of help...